


Choose Your Fighter

by princesscas



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chel wrote it one (1) time so it's legit, Crush at First Sight, DQXI Rarepair Jam, F/F, Hero | Luminary is Named Eleven | El (Dragon Quest XI), I put far too much time and effort into this, This is cursed, YES this is a ship, background Luminerik, competitive gaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26858941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princesscas/pseuds/princesscas
Summary: Her opponent was pretty much her entire definition of gorgeous.Mia knew she was good at gaming. She expected that. What she didn’t expect was to make it to the final round of fighting at her first club meeting. And even less so, how attractive her challenger would be.
Relationships: Homer | Jasper & Maya | Mia (Dragon Quest XI), Maya | Mia/Veronica (Dragon Quest XI)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	Choose Your Fighter

**Author's Note:**

> holy crap, this is cursed, very very cursed,
> 
> enjoy my contribution to the rarepair jam. or don't. just ... take it. please. I spent far too long on this, and I have many regrets.
> 
> no knowledge of combat video games required!

“Good luck, kid.”

Erik’s hand shot out, and Mia attempted to duck her head, but as always he was faster, and succeeded in his mission to ruffle her hair affectionately, ruining it in the process. Didn’t he know how long she spent taming all those little frizzy bits that escaped the thick blue braid he had insisted on helping with since she had started wearing it? Well, of course he did. The real question was, did he care? Clearly not.

Mia stuck her tongue out, fruitlessly attempting to flatten her hair back down. “I don’t need it,” she declared, throwing open the door to the repurposed precalc classroom.

“I’ll pick you up later. Just text me, alright?”

“Fine. Try not to spend the whole drive making out with El in the passenger seat.”

“No promises,” Erik mumbled, grinning guiltily. He raked a hand through his cropped blue hair, the exact same shade as hers and just as messy, although his was like that on purpose. His secret stash of leave-in conditioner and hair gel gave him away. Mia pretended she didn’t know that drawer existed, because of its … other contents.

“You two are a fuckin’ disgrace,” she replied offhandedly, as if it were a completely normal topic of conversation, and for them, it almost was. Mia would have banned them from it by now if she didn’t like El so much. Curse his soft heart and softer hugs.

“You got one of those words right,” Erik shot back, raising his eyebrows suggestively and earning himself an exasperated glare. “You’re just jealous.” He shrugged with fake airiness. “What can I say, I’m just dashingly handsome, amusing, intelligent, and did I mention handsome?”

“Shut up! I could hook up with someone, easy,” she lied, staring down her brother defiantly even as he let out a snort of laughter.

“Yeah, right. Tell you what, if there’s so many people falling over themselves for you, picking up a date at this club meet of yours shouldn’t be a problem.” His eyes shimmered with mischief, a familiar glint that she knew meant nothing good. “Send me a pic or something, and I’ll drive over. Or you could always take the bus home if you can’t find anyone.”

Mia gaped at him, at how thinly veiled his challenge was.

“Bye,” Erik called, before she could respond. His heeled boots clicked against the tiled floor, the sound growing fainter as he moved away at an alarmingly fast rate. Mia was powerless to do anything but watch as her brother, and her last shot at keeping her dignity intact, walked out the double doors at the end of the math wing, no doubt headed to his car and his boyfriend. Even now, they were probably already pulling out of the parking lot in their convertible, top rolled down, driving recklessly without a voice of reason there to stop them from - 

“You gonna come in or what?”

Mia flushed, pushing the image of her two brothers to the furthest-back corner of her mind as she pulled the door all the way open and slipped in, letting it close with a somewhat threatening metallic  _ clink _ behind her.

How hard could this be? She could sweet talk her way out of anything, and surely that would also mean she could sweet talk her way  _ into _ anything too, right? It could just be a one-time thing, a quick kiss or something. That would shut her brother up. He desperately needed his ego deflated.

“Hey.” Mia gave a little wave to everyone in the room, smiling confidently, receiving several smiles and even another greeting in return. Easy. Hell, she could probably take her pick. Not the guy with the orange hoodie tied around his waist, he had no sense of style at all. Not the blonde, he looked too shy. Not the girl with pink hair, she was obviously a little distracted -

“Mia, right?”

“Oh, um, yeah. I’m Mia,” she said automatically, flushing slightly as the pink-haired girl’s gaze bored into her, like she could see what Mia had been thinking and was mortally offended by it. She bit her lip.

“There’s a spot on the left side, I think.”

“Over here,” a soft but somehow still exasperated voice grumbled, and Mia found herself face-to-face with a tall purple-haired boy she recognized from -

“Mia? Really. I didn’t know you were capable of being competitive,” an all-too-familiar voice drawled, but the speaker was undeniably smiling. He flicked his perfectly off-center platinum bangs out of his eyes with more theatrics than Mia would have deemed necessary. “We’ll see, I suppose.”

“You’re going  _ down, _ ” she hissed, smirking, and he shot her one back.

Maybe Jasper … ? No, of course not. He was even less straight than Mia herself was, for fuck’s sake, and she didn’t want to ruin his chances with … whoever was next to him. She scrunched her nose. Maybe it was a bad sign that she didn’t even know the name of Jasper’s latest arm candy. Mia made a silent promise that if this one lasted through the end of the month, she’d actually get to know him.

“Alright, everyone in their groups?”

A general murmur of assent swept through the room.

“Well, most of you already know this, but I’ll explain anyways. I’m Kai, club president, and I run our competitions every week in Professor Dundrasil’s room,” he announced, gesturing to the teacher with a pronounced bald spot absorbed in his laptop in the corner, looking at what Mia prayed was intellectual content, although judging by his facial expression that was unlikely. “You know the drill, so let’s go!”

“No double mains!” Zazie added from her spot across the room. “We’ll use a random number site if two of you want the same characters. No complaining.”

An overly muscular jock dude glared at her, but didn’t offer any protest.

If only Mia could be over there with her, instead of here, but at least she wasn’t playing against one of her friends. Jasper didn’t deserve that title. He was more of … her partner in crime, who helped her cheat on their Japanese tests and fine-tune insults. That was all he was. Not a  _ friend _ . That was ridiculous.

“Let’s get this started!” a female voice that sounded weirdly familiar yelled, and everyone in the room nodded in agreement with her, save for Jasper. He was probably far too dignified for that. Shit, he was the worst. Scratch that. Mia was the worst, for actually finding him to be good company.

“Rich kid,” Mia muttered as Jasper’s mystery escort pulled out his pair of controllers, black with matte colors popping at the edges. Actually, they were pretty nice, not that she’d admit that.

“Hark who’s talking,” he shot back quietly, jerking his head in the direction of her sleek gray pro controller (okay,  _ Erik’s _ sleek gray pro controller) in her hands, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

Mia’s eyebrows disappeared into her bangs.

Not bad. Better than some of Jasper’s usual picks, anyway. At the very least he had personality. And she wasn’t blind to the looks they shared, the static that she could practically feel dancing in the air between them. Mia couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not, but it was  _ something _ , that was for certain.

Not another word was exchanged as they selected their characters, no conflicts or random drawings necessary.

“Alright, everyone, we’re going with New Donk City for all battles,” declared Kai, his voice somehow authoritative despite the buzz of conversation in the room. “And -  _ start! _ ”

Mia’s little WiiFit avatar flew across the screen, and it was all over within moments. Barely even a minute. Jasper’s Link didn’t stand a chance, even with his bomb ability.

“Fine. Kick some ass,” Jasper grumbled as she turned with a jovial, if not somewhat cocky, grin.

“Aww, sad you got beat? Don’t worry, I will,” promised Mia, and she stayed true to it, carrying herself through another two rounds, facing off against Orange Hoodie, and barely scraping by in a fight with Pink Hair (Michelle, she learned) as Peach. Because of course she had to pick Peach. Stupid projection. Too bad the princess was actually a good fighter.

And before she knew it, it was down to just her.

She could take this. Whoever the right side of the room had to offer couldn’t be half as hard as Erik’s obsessive training and strategic character picks.

“Give me all you’ve got, newbie. Although I doubt it’ll help.”

Mia glanced at the chair opposite her new one in the center of the room, and her jaw damn near dropped.

The champion of the other two matches was about an inch or two taller than her, with a pair of blond braids that had absolutely no right to look good. She carelessly played with a loose thread on the sleeve of her midnight blue denim jacket, gold buttons glinting as she twisted her sleeve around her wrist. She wore a pink and red checkered miniskirt, wrapped tight against her figure, her legs encased in black fishnet stockings. Platform sneakers, chunky blue ring on her right hand (topaz, maybe?) … 

Her opponent was pretty much her entire definition of gorgeous.

Why couldn’t she have faced off against someone who wasn’t this damn good-looking?

“As you wish,” Mia teased, immensely grateful when her voice came out smooth, instead of stuttering the same way her heart was. She hoped desperately that nobody else could tell how fast her heart was racing, and told herself it was just the adrenaline. That was a thing, right?

She gave a dry laugh. “You’re looking at the pride of the junior class right here. I’m sure you’ll get some excellent name-dropping opportunity once I slaughter you, though.” She pulled a lip balm (grapefruit, Mia noted) from the inner pocket of her denim jacket, tracing it across her lips (perfect and pink and soft and  _ stop looking Mia there’s something to focus on here- _ ). “Veronica. Ronnie, if you put up a fight,” she taunted easily, cocking her head to the side.

Whatever she and Jasper came up with in their shared journal kept in his locker (which they both knew the combo to, coincidentally) could hardly compare to  _ that _ .

“Mia,” she replied, giving her best imitation of her usual smirk. “I fight with WiiFit Trainer.”

“Interesting,” her opponent - Veronica - murmured, her low tones sending shivers down Mia’s spine.

Oh. This girl was playing her, and doing a damn good job of it.

“Pikachu,” Veronica said simply, after a long moment of consideration. Her voice carried a slight edge, one that sparked Mia’s nerves further, the ever-present smirk only adding to the feeling.

Mia gave nothing more than a solemn nod.

“And they’re off! I’d give the advantage to Veronica, Pikachu’s a pretty strong fighter, but she doesn’t have much practice with it, we’ll see where this goes - “

Mia tuned out the voice of whoever had taken it upon themself to start commentating, ignoring the small crowd behind her.

This was just one of those days when Erik had come home exhausted and flopped onto the couch next to her. He had just cracked open one of his cans of iced coffee, slapped his bag onto the ground, and put his feet up on the table. Maybe some people would have minded, but they hadn’t really had a home until Frysabel and Krystalinda offered to be their foster parents, and it was a luxury they’d never had before.

The Pikachu on screen shooting thunderballs at her was only her brother putting off his algebra work.

Not the distractingly pretty and confident girl in the denim jacket who was apparently the club’s best combat fighter.

Mia swore under her breath as Ver- no, the Pikachu, slammed her off the platform, her reaction just a fraction of a second too late to save herself. One of her three lives, gone already, from a momentary lapse.

Just Erik, folded over himself to see the screen better, his tongue poking out from between his teeth in concentration.

Pikachu tumbled off the edge of the stage, respawning with only two lives left. On equal footing with her. Again, Mia attempted to knock it off, and surprisingly, it worked. Was Veronica off her form or something?

Mia unleashed her maximum power on the Pikachu, not leaving any time for a recovery, knowing how dangerous that was. From behind her she could distinctly hear someone’s name being screamed, but she wasn’t sure whose.

Before she knew it, the screen flashed with the word  _ Game! _ and Caffeinated Erik On The Couch vanished, replaced with Veronica brushing nonexistent dust off of her miniskirt. An upgrade, in Mia’s opinion.

Kai let out a low whistle. “And Mia has beaten our champion! Wow.”

“I’m impressed,” said Veronica softly, as several other club members began to filter out with bland congratulations and wishes for better luck next time. She offered a soft smirk that really shouldn’t have made Mia’s disastrous heart skip a beat. “Next time I won’t go so easy on you,” she purred, her voice low and deadly, laced with a strange unreadable undertone that Mia was far too tempted to read as flirting.

“I’ve - gotta go.” Mia ducked her head to hide the hint of pink dusting her cheeks.

“Want a ride? I know you probably can’t drive yet.”

“No, my brother is -  _ fuck _ ,” mumbled Mia, her hand shooting up to tangle in the hair at the base of her neck, the soft parts that had escaped from her braid in the vain hope of freedom. How had that slipped her mind? She glanced around, clinging to the desperate thought that maybe there was someone there still who she could - but everyone was going, or already gone.

Everyone but the talented, cocky, undeniably attractive finalist by her side.

Mia swallowed. No way. Not a chance.

“Actually, yeah, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“My sister can probably get home with Jade.” Veronica fidgeted with the ring on her middle finger, and yes, it was topaz, just as Mia had suspected. She pushed open the doors, heading in a straight line towards the left side of the lot. “Where do you live, exactly? Shit. I sound like a stalker.”

“No, you’re good. I live near the strip mall on seventh, but like, a few blocks west. You can drop me off near the L train stop.”

“Sure.” Veronica clicked her key fob four times in impatience, causing the locking mechanism to screech in protest long after she had dropped the keys back into her pocket. She swung open the door on the passenger’s side first, offering Mia the chance to get in. “After you, m’lady.”

“You know you’re a lady too, right?”

She pouted, and the face combined with the braids framing her face had the unfortunate effect of giving her the overall appearance of a grumpy toddler. Mia barely prevented herself from launching into a fit of giggles. This new side of Veronica was oddly cute.

“Just get in,” Veronica grumbled, and she obliged.

It wasn’t too long of a drive, only fifteen minutes or so, but way too long to walk, and Mia didn’t want to take public because it took two separate buses. And because she didn’t want to give Erik the opportunity to humiliate her.

“How’d you get so good? I haven’t seen you at meetings before.” Glancing away from the red light in front of her, Veronica tilted her head to the side in genuine curiosity.

“My brother,” she answered instantly. Veronica released a soft but unfiltered snort of laughter, and Mia couldn’t help but feel like she had finally done something right. “We still play sometimes, but I almost always win. He makes me pick a shitty character so he actually has a chance.”

“I wish I played with my siblings,” Veronica sighed. “My sister is more social than I am. She’s in cheer squad. Never misses a game. The cheer captain, Sylvia,  _ adores _ her. I’m more of the black sheep of the family, with my video game tournaments. My parents say it’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” Mia protested, angry for someone she barely knew, and Veronica cracked a dry, humorless smile as she pulled into a parking spot by the train stop. “Sure you’re social. What about the other club people?”

“I don’t see them outside of meetings much.” Veronica motioned in the vague direction of the sidewalk on Mia’s side of the car, but she stayed inside, the door remaining firmly shut.

“Hey, I would hang with you,” offered Mia.

“Alright.” Veronica’s mouth quirked up on one side, her eyes lighting up with the slightest hint of some emotion Mia couldn’t place. “Tomorrow, after class? We could go for pastries or something.” Her smile became self-conscious, and she started playing with her ring again. “Or if you don’t want to - “

“Sure,” Mia interrupted. “Yeah, I’ll come with you. Were you going to, uh, invite anyone else?”

“No, not really. I was thinking … more like a date?” she asked in a rush, like she was getting the worst over with quickly.

“I like it.”

Veronica’s eyebrows flew into her blond fringe.

“Tomorrow,” she whispered, both a promise and a question, and somehow Mia heard her even over the whistling wind and the barely-contained bubbling warmth in her chest, somehow chaotic and comforting all at once.

Mia practically skipped the half-block home, grinning the entire way.

Erik opened the door with a wordless smirk. Little did he know how unfounded it was. She  _ had _ met his challenge, albeit accidentally, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Hi, Mia. Missing something?” El asked in his signature faux innocent tone, the one that suggested he was up to no good. He held up a familiar blue card in between his fingers, twirling it so that the plastic caught the light.

Mia’s mouth went dry. “You stole my bus pass,” she stated, deadpan.

El shot her a guilty smile. “No … maybe. Erik’s a bad influence. My cute little swindler,” he said, giggling softly as Erik surrendered and sat down in the chair next to him, allowing himself to be pulled into El’s lap with nothing more than a huff of fake frustration.

“And what exactly did I steal?”

“My heart. You terrible criminal,” El teased, drawing Erik closer with the arms around his waist.

Mia cleared her throat. “Still here.”

El bit his lip and loosened his hold, his eyes offering all the apology she was going to get from either of them. Erik never felt the faintest trace of remorse about flaunting his boyfriend’s affection. This also meant they weren’t at all secret and didn’t care about being caught in the slightest. Unfortunate, because Mia cared very much about catching them.

“Uh, Mia? If El had your bus pass, how did you get back?”

“My date dropped me off,” she replied offhandedly. “I told you I could find someone.”

“ _ Sure. _ What are they like?” Erik scoffed, batting El’s hands away from his hair.

“She has purple eyes and blond hair in two braids. Wears a denim jacket and a short skirt.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and her name’s Veronica.”

“Yep,” Mia declared, and El choked out a laugh.

“Fuck,” Erik grumbled, raking a hand through his hair in what Mia recognized as one of his most prominent nervous habits. “Uh, Ronnie and I … how do I say this … we kinda clash.”

Mia shot him a blinding grin. “Even better,” she said, and she found that she meant it. Annoying her brother and dating an incredibly hot gamer at the same time? Yeah, she was  _ so _ in.

***

Veronica arrived home to a string of an alarming number of texts, all from Erik. Erik, of all people! He hadn’t messaged her like this since he was trying to check answers with her on a history test from the bathroom (which had resulted in Veronica muting her smart watch and shoving it into the deepest corner of her backpack).

_ if youre actually dating my sister im gonna seriously injure you _

_ wait nvm im gonna spam you with anti-britain memes _

_ also mia says she beat you at smash. kicking your ass is a family thing i guess _

_ just tell me _

_ fuck now my moms are involved _

_ save me _

Erik’s sister? That would explain the hair color, she supposed, and also the attitude. Somehow Mia’s was much less annoying, though, and she was better-looking, more in control, shy but in a cute way … 

She had done weirder things. What was the point of trying to satisfy her parents? They had Serena for that. The decision had been made the instant she had offered to take Mia home, but it was still strangely empowering to admit it to someone other than herself. Sure, Erik wouldn’t have been her first choice, but it was better than nothing.

_ Better start sending me that propaganda then. _

**Author's Note:**

> please leave me a comment / kudos if you enjoyed!!! aaaa your support means the world to me, this community is my entire motivation to keep writing, thank you!
> 
> (to anyone reading bluer sky: I'll be back next week!)


End file.
